Is your pool as safe for your toddlers as you think it is?
When it comes to toddlers, you can’t take safety for granted. Toddlers are by nature, curious. So, it falls on adults to supervise them.
Can you be where your child or toddler is, 24 hours a day?
The answer from most parents would be ‘no.’ So, how do you ensure you ‘keep up with the Jones’ and have a swimming pool installed in your backyard but still ensure your pool is toddler safe?
There is no option to your swimming pool area you need to fence it in
There are two main types of fences you can use to make your swimming pool toddler-safe. Glass Fences and Metal Enclosures.
Which solution’s work? Both do. Which one you choose just depends on your budget and the design you have in mind.
Glass Pool Fences
Glass Pool Fences are fast becoming the choice adopted by Sydney siders because of the classy look they add to a home. In many cases, they increase its value by a factor higher than what it costs you to install them.
The property market runs on emotion. Glass Pool Fences add ‘a touch of glass’ to your property. Because of this, Home-owners and prospective Home-Buyers love them.
But Safety, not looks, are paramount when you have toddlers at home
Glass Pool Fences provide this safety. Made from high-impact resistant glass, no toddler will be able to break the glass or get through. Provided the locks on the Fence are used, of course. Glass Pool Installers provide a guarantee of workmanship on the materials used. They do not guarantee the safety of your toddler. That is a parental responsibility.
Metal Fences
If you’re lucky enough to own a Home with a Swimming Pool in it, you can also make it toddler-safe by installing a metal fence with a lockable gate around it.
The metal bars should be spaced in a way that does not allow a child to slip through.
Whilst not the most fashionable of solutions, it does keep your swimming pool safe – again, as long as you remember to lock the gate.
When you install any swimming pool fence, you must ensure the gates lock automatically. This ensures they can’t be left open or unattended for even the slightest possible time.
New South Wales Law places the responsibility of toddler safety on the parent
Fair Trade New South Wales is very clear on where responsibility for toddlers lies when it comes to swimming pool. With the parent.
Most drownings in swimming pools involve children under five years of age. Inadequate Glass Pool Fencing Sydney is the number one reason why children drown.
According to New South Wales Law, if your pool was built before August 1990, access to the pool from the house must be restricted. Windows and doors may be part of this barrier provided it is compliant with Council regulations.
Pools built after August 1990 but before July 2010 must be separated by a fence from the house. Exemptions are available if the property is very small (less than 230 hectares). A waterfront property. Or is a property that is very large – 2 hectares or over.
Pools built after July 2010 must be surrounded by a fence that separates the pool from the house. No excuses.
What about inflatable pools?
The law covers Inflatable Pools. Even inflatable pools must be fenced to ensure toddlers aren’t allowed access that is unaccompanied by an adult.
All inflatable pools are supplied with toddler warnings. It makes a lot of sense to read these warnings to ensure you keep your family safe.
How do you keep your swimming pool and family safe?
HealthyChildren.org has some answers. Toddlers are attracted to colour and water. It pulls them towards it. So, swimming pools in a home are very dangerous to toddlers who will make a beeline towards them.
The safest way to keep your toddlers safe are Pool Fences
It doesn’t matter whether the Pool Fence is glass or metal bars so long your toddler cannot slip past it.
Besides Pool Fences, it is also advisable to use Pool Covers. When you use these, ensure they are tightly draped over the pool so a toddler cannot slip underneath them.
A toddler’s cry is heart wrenching. But a mother who has lost her toddler to drowning has a cry that is even more so.
